Hello and welcome to
planDisney, Deborah. I'm so glad you've stopped by to discuss your holiday at Walt Disney World!
Deborah, my family and I visit Walt Disney World for Christmas every year. We've been doing it for quite some time and I know the ins and outs of how to have a great time on Christmas day! As long as you have valid theme park admission and a park pass reservation for Magic Kingdom Park on December 25th you will be granted access to the park. You are correct, Christmas Day is extremely busy and will more than likely reach capacity by late morning and park hopping will be temporarily suspended. But no worries, with your park pass reservation you are guaranteed entry no matter what time you arrive.
Let's talk logistics. Are you staying at a
Walt Disney World Resort Hotel? If so, you are granted access to the theme parks 30 minutes prior to the scheduled opening time. Transportation from the resorts starts running anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour prior to the scheduled park opening time. If you'd like to be at Magic Kingdom Park for the opening, I suggest getting to the transportation that you will be taking at least one hour prior. That's what I've always done and I am usually on the first bus or boat over to the park which normally gives me a pretty good spot in line to enter. Once you are there, you'll just have to wait in line to scan into the theme parks like you typically would any other day. It will be busy but the line does move rather quickly. Everyone will be allowed in and then there is a holding area (on Main Street U.S.A.) for non-resort Guests and then you'll be able to scan into the areas of Magic Kingdom Park that are open to resort Guests a little bit prior to the opening. It makes for a really early morning but I promise you that arriving early and beating the crowds makes for a much more enjoyable Christmas morning!
Once you are there, be sure to set your expectations. On a day where the theme park is at capacity, it is nearly impossible to do every single attraction, show, parade, etc. Pick your top must-do's and do those first thing in the morning. Even if they are spread out throughout the theme park. We let everyone pick the one thing they want to do the most and knock that out right away. That way everyone is happy and then anything else we do throughout the day is just a bonus. With your theme park ticket and a park pass reservation, you are able to leave and come back later in the day. I would highly encourage you to take advantage of that. Lunchtime will be the busiest part of the day in the theme parks and that's the time when I typically will go back to the resort for some downtime. It can be fun to swim on Christmas day, we've done that quite a bit or even just a sit-down meal away. It's nice to take a beat to regroup. This is a must for my family. After we've enjoyed a break, we typically like to have Christmas dinner somewhere and then head back to
Magic Kingdom Park for a few hours into the night. It's a great time to finish up any must-do's and get some really beautiful pictures in front of Cinderella Castle.
I hope this helps, Deborah. If you have any other questions, please feel free to stop back by and
ask me. I'm here to help. If I don't hear from you again, I hope you have an amazing holiday!
Merry Christmas!